Meet and greet

Goodbyes can be complicated. They can be heartfelt, full of sorrow. They can be casual among friends, or formal among work colleagues. We can say goodbye knowing we’ll never see someone again, or we can say goodbye knowing we’ll see them again tomorrow.

9Siswati

10Tshivenda

11Xitsonga

Why say thank you? Well, we do it partly because we’ve been taught from a young age that it is the right thing to do. We learn to say thank you to those who offer us help, who give things to us and who provide guidance or support.

We say thank you for gifts, thank you for special favors, and thank you for assistance in times of need. But it’s not only the big things where thank you matters. We also say thank you as we’re handed our change in the store, thank you to someone who holds the door for us, and thank you to the person who passes us the salt at dinner.

It’s a phrase that is pretty much ubiquitous. But it’s never unwelcome, and it can mean so much.

Here is a list of how to say thank you in all 11 official South African languages.

6Sepedi

7Sesotho

8Setswana

9Siswati

10Tshivenda

11Xitsonga

Good morning is a common phrase meaning the same thing as “hello” but it can only be used before midday. It does not necessarily assume the weather is good but is rather a simple greeting.

If you stay up all night long with friends and you find that it is 2 AM (or still dark) you can still say “Good Night”. It may be funny, The person may say “Good night” and look at their watch and laugh and say “or good morning!” It happens all the time!

Here is a list of how to say good morning in all 11 South African languages.